Sheltering heart
by chloemcg
Summary: One-shot. After Surly and Andie become a couple, neither could be happier with their lives...but what if kits come into the mix?


**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters of Nut job, but I do sort of own the kits.**

 **Sheltering heart**

* * *

Oaktons liberty park had never been more peaceful.

Andie and Surly squirrels sat together on the branch of a tree that overlooked Oakton, watching the city below them as they each had a packet of nuts nestled between them both. The red and purple squirrel couple found the atmosphere romantic and charming as they gazed down at the streets below with the lights and the beautiful amber glow that shone below them.

The air was crisp and cool as they sat together on a sturdy tree branch, the smells of civilisation and the sounds of town life rang softly.

It had been a little over a year since the animals had fought for their home against the humans when the mayor and his bratty daughter had tried to turn it into a giant funfair. The parks former-nuisance/now-hero, Surly squirrel, had become the leader with his wife, Andie, and everything had worked out brilliantly...especially when Surly and Buddy had been tasked with foraging for food to get for the animals that lived in the park.

Surly reached into the nut bag and took a peanut out, he placed it into his lap and then proceeded to pry the eight-shaped shell apart and then started shoving the innards of it into his mouth without a word. The second the nut had been stuffed in there it made his cheeks puff out.

The purple squirrel chewed vigorously while he carried on staring at the world down below.

But he couldn't help but swallow when he felt Andie lower her head to rest it on his shoulder before she nuzzled into his sleek dark purple fur. Surly suddenly felt his heart start to race as he felt himself become engulfed with this warmth that he always felt whenever he was next to Andie...or even occupied the same space as her. He was sure that if he didn't have fur then his face would have turned a bright shade of red.

He raised his head and glance over at Andie, frowning.

"Andie? You okay?"

Andie didn't take her head off of her mate's shoulder but she nodded her head with a contented smile tugging at the corners of her lips.

"I'm fine, Surly...just a bit cold."

Surly smirked in response to the red squirrel's reply. He knew that it was a chilly night and he didn't want the love of his life to get chills. He smiled the most charming smile he could and eyed her romantically, "Can't have that now."

Then he reached forwards and wrapped both his arms and his bushy tail around her to try and keep her warm and it was an action that made the red squirrel lean in closer to try and soak into his warmth. Despite not lifting her head, Andie took a nut straight out of the bag that Surly had stolen from a nut cart earlier and proceeded to shove it into her mouth.

Then the two glanced up to look skywards.

The stars looked so beautiful as they twinkled like polished diamonds in the dark night sky, the moon was nowhere in sight but it was beautiful nonetheless. Even though the air was chilly —in spite of it being late spring— some leaves that had been leftover from the year prior would be carried off upon gusts of wind. Seeing the scraps of decaying leaves fly in the air with the ember glowing of streetlights below made for a stunning view.

Surly swallowed.

Now, he decided, was the time to make his move.

He gathered all his courage and readjusted his position with his tail still wrapped around Andie, although he unfurled his arms from her and took one of her dark brown paws into his own violet purple one as he started to rub the back of it with one claw tenderly

"A-Andie...?"

The red squirrel looked Surly in the eye, her emerald green eyes softening.

"Yes?"

Surly swallowed. He breathed deeply when he stared into her eyes and found himself lost in them, the words he wanted to say got tangled in his throat. He cleared his throat to try and get those trapped words free and he couldn't help but find Andie look so beautiful...especially in the starlight, how could he have become so lucky to have her in his life?

He forced the words out.

"I...I want you to close your eyes..."

Andie just looked at him as though he'd just asked her to hurl herself off a cliff. Why did he want her to close her eyes? But she trusted him and decided to do as she was asked and shut her eyes with the utmost patience upon her fluffy face. Surly hesitated for a moment. Would she push away? Would she reject him? He knew that there was only one way to find out as he closed his eyes and leaned forwards, slowly and carefully as time seemed to slow down.

It was when he finally felt his lips press against hers that he felt his heart soar —especially when she pressed them back. He couldn't help but feel his whole entire world focus on her as nothing else seemed to matter whilst they embraced romantically and they kept their balance on the tree branch they sat on.

It was when they finally parted that Andie smiled lovingly at him.

"Aww, you sentimental squirrel...I love you too."

* * *

 _A few months later..._

Surly and Andie had become mates after that night and they couldn't have been happier about it, especially since they had finally fully-repaired the park with the help of some good humans and all the animals had settled in quite splendidly. Mr Feng and the rest of his mouse army, Precious and Frankie and their pups had settled in brilliantly too!

But then, shortly after the announcement had been made of their union, Surly and Andie had received news that they were going to be blessed with their own litter of kits.

The news had come as a shock for everybody, expecting parents included, however they were determined to make the park as amazing a home to them as possible. There were concerns flying about whether Surly was going to be father material...especially with how he had behaved in the past...but the Bruisers and Buddy and the rest had quickly quelled those concerns when they reminded everyone that their leader would probably juggle his responsibilities with parenthood well.

Hopefully.

The next 5 weeks were hard on Andie as she grew more and more pregnant with each day that passed and, of course, everyone treated her as delicately as possible even if it annoyed the red a squirrel to the point where she couldn't grab a piece of independence when every creature would do every thing for her before she could even lift a finger. It annoyed her greatly but she knew that it was just everyone's way of showing they cared.

In spite of it all, she couldn't wait for the kits to come.

The scent of roasted nuts permeated through the air, as Precious the pug skidded to a halt alongside a nut cart. She watched with the slightest hint of anxiety while Surly clambered up a small pipe next to the stand to get to the counter and then to his prize. The purple squirrel had gotten extremely used to doing this after stealing several bags of nuts and planning heists since he and Buddy were small. But he had to get some food for his mate, he needed to...she wanted some nuts and he was going to get some for her nest.

Thankfully the human who had placed the cart there had left for a minute or so, so Surly had hoped to scramble off with two bags or so. He climbed up the pole and leapt on to the counter, breathing deeply to steady himself as he started to make his way over to where the nut bags were.

Since he had been working so much to provide for everyone in the park he felt as though he might drop to one knee after taking every step. It was a miracle that he managed to snag two large bags, lugging them both over each of his shoulders.

He lumbered over to the side of the counter and prepared to chuck them both over the edge.

But he didn't get to.

Both Surly and Precious glanced down and set their sights quickly on a familiar thin, light blue blur streaking up to the cart while scampering on all fours. The thin purple squirrel dropped the nut bags by each of his sides and smiled tiredly down at the rat he called his best friend.

"Hey, Buddy! What's up?" Surly called down.

Buddy went into a fit the second he leapt to stand on both feet and started to make super fast hand gestures that neither Precious nor Surly could follow at first since he would move his paws so quickly that they would appear like pink blurs of motion. This made Surly frown because clearly something was up and the frantic behaviour the rat displayed was actually beginning to get worrisome. Buddy would mostly gesture and point behind him and then skitter in place as though he were trying to get him to follow.

Precious was quick on the mark and she dropped to lay on her tummy as she eyed the rat then tried to calm the nonverbal distressed rat down.

"Woah, woah, woah, Buddy! What's the matter?"

The rat's response was to continue making exaggerated paw moments as his large eyes widened.

Surly just stood there in confusion as he tried to process this. Why was Buddy behaving like this? Why did he seem so panicked and so desperate? He was mentally scratching his head until the realisation seemed to hit him like a smack to the fact and his chest felt tight, he almost couldn't breathe.

"Andie..."

Buddy nodded up at Surly then climbed on to Precious' head and scampered down her back, and gave the most urgent paw gesture he could as Surly suddenly gained a new-found energy and proceeded to throw the heavy nut bags down to the rat. Buddy caught them both with shocking ease as Surly leapt down the counter and landed on Precious' back.

Gripping her collar like reigns, he kicked her in the side to start running.

"Ride, Precious!"

The pug yelped in response to feeling the sharp kick to her side and growled with irritation at the purple squirrel. She may have understood the urgency behind his actions since she was a mother herself but she didn't appreciate the rough treatment from the purple squirrel —she glared softly at him and her wrinkled face bunched up crossly.

"Ow! Not so hard!"

Surly smiled in an apologetic manner.

"Sorry..."

Then the pug broke into a fast gallop as she let the two rodents ride on her back with them carrying the pair of large bags overflowing with nuts of all sorts. She managed to make her get-away just in time since the man who had originally catered for the nut cart had returned and had seemed to grow red in the face with fury when he saw the dog and two rodents get away with his wares.

He yelled angrily as he raised his fist high in the air and shook it.

"Hey! Get back here you thieving mutt!"

The ride back to the tree felt too long for the anxious father-to-be. He really hoped that he would get to his mate in time as he He clutched on tight to one bag of nuts with one paw squeezing the handle in a death grip; the speed and rushing of the wind in his face caused his fur to bristle in the strong gales that blew in the air. His bushy tail fluttered like a flimsy kite behind as Buddy and himself rode the pug all the way back to the tree where the purple squirrel lived with Andie.

Minutes felt like an eternity.

Precious started to slow down as she was greeted by Frankie and most of the population whom lived in the park, her three pups and the Bruisers and Mole included, as the pug met her Boston terrier mate and their puppies with anxiety written all over his face as he frowned at the trio.

His eyes huge with concern as he eyed Surly in particular.

"Surly! You're just in time!"

Surly hardly paid the dogs, or anyone else, any heed as he clawed his way up the tree with as much vigour as he could.

His claws were unsheathed and the sheer force he used to scale his way up the oak trunk caused scratches all the way down to the bark to the point where each claw mark oozed with sap. Buddy followed closely behind him as he had managed to drop the nut bags and grabbed a tight hold of his friend's dark purple tail and started to use it as a rope. The purple squirrel's entire body pounded with the thought and desire to reach his mate as quickly as possible and he scowled determinedly up at the top where she was.

He scrambled all the way to the top of the tree and had finally made it as he heaved himself up to the top branch where he saw the hollow opening that was made in the tree.

It was eerily silent.

Surly's throat felt tight and his heart felt as though it could stop at any moment.

His legs felt like jelly and he felt as frozen as a tomb stone and his bushy tail felt very stiff as he slowly turned to face the silent, lanky rat with pure uncertainty on his face. Buddy placed his claw atop the squirrel's thin shoulder and give him a nod of encouragement, giving Surly the energy he needed as he took a giant breath in.

He could do this.

He hesitantly stepped through the circular opening of the tree hollow, making sure to keep his steps quiet as he entered.

It didn't take long for his brown eyes to lay on his own mate laying in the centre of the tree.

Andie looked exhausted, her forest green eyes were closed and her fur was all frizzy and untidy and her ears were laid down against her skull. She had curled up into a ball and she had clearly fallen asleep...she looked so peaceful. She opened her eyes, although they were very baggy, and she let loose a tired sigh as she raised her head and looked towards Surly; Surly almost froze when Andie locked gazes with him, but he somehow kept himself moving as he stood and smiled down gently at her.

His voice was hushed as he called out, "Andie, are you alright?"

Andie smiled and nodded, tears swelled up in her emerald pools and then she uncurled slightly from her ball to reveal two tiny balls of fur nudging by her side and Surly gasped lightly when he saw them. Two newborn squirrel kits, they were both so fluffy and sleeping as they nuzzled together, snuggling at the warmth against their mother's tummy.

Two boys.

One of the two kits had Surly's purple fur, it was the bigger one of the two and probably the oldest one and it seemed that this first kit would probably grow to be like a small clone of its father, but this kit simply had a beige underbelly and no markings covering its face. There was just purple.

The other kit, assumedly the second born, had Andie's shade of red fur but a couple of shades darker, more russet actually, and it resembled more of its mother but with an extra bushy tail. This kit seemed to take more after its mother as far as looks were concerned.

Surly couldn't help but feel his eyes water as he sniffled and choked back a sob.

Andie quirked a tired and rather disbelieving brow at her husband.

"Surly squirrel, are you crying?"

Surly quickly wiped his eyes to hide the evidence of him shedding any tears and shook his head.

"N-No, I'm sweating through my eyes!"

Andie smiled teasingly, albeit weakly. She knew what she saw but she also knew that Surly would just deny it when she questioned him further on the subject so left it alone, then she decided to surprise her mate even further when she lifted her tail and revealed that there had been something hiding beneath it this whole time.

Surly was stunned to the core when he saw it.

A third kit.

It let out loud squeaks of protest of having the warmth of its mother's tail taken away, and it let everyone know that it was also very much there.

If one were to listen carefully, they could sense that it's cries sounded somewhat indignant.

This kit had a little sleek coat of its mother's shade of auburn but with a purple stripe running down its back and tail and it had two barely-opened different coloured eyes; one was the same shade of green as Andie's and the other was Surly's coffee brown.

Surly stooped down and then, carefully picking up the tiniest kit of all into its arms, and he stared down at it and noticed something about it -other than it being the obvious runt of the litter other then this one being small and frail and delicate. He cradled the teeny squirrel kitten, it's little nose wiggled and twitched as it shifted around in its father's arms; his chest squeezed and he found that he couldn't speak as he held the new life in his paws.

This was a cute little girl.

The youngest kit seemed so fragile as she squirmed slightly until she relaxed in the male squirrel's arms and then started falling asleep.

Surly couldn't help but feel his eyes swell with even more tears as he held the tiny kitten. This blind, helpless little creature was so small that he was terrified that he'd break her if he moved even a little bit but he just couldn't resist the urge to lean down and rub his nose against the kit's silky soft fiery ember fur. He held back a small chuckle as he felt her fur tickle his nose.

"Beautiful, aren't they?"

Surly finally lifted his head and saw that Andie had readjusted her position as she lay on her back, snuggling against the leaves and straw that she made for her nest. She had picked up the two older male kits and cradled each one in her arms as she gazed down at them with as much love as her emerald green eyes could muster.

It was a heart-warming sight that almost made even more tears flow.

If this kept up, the whole tree hollow would flood...

Surly picked himself off the floor and carried both himself and his new daughter over to where Andie was settling herself down with the two boys and he lay himself right next to her, he kissed her cheek and nodded whilst he nuzzled his nose into her fur. He was pretty sure that his heart had melted into a puddle of mush in his chest as he closed his hazel eyes and flicked his ears forwards.

"Absolutely."

Andie decided to ask, her voice gentle.

"What shall we name them?"

Surly opened his eyes and glanced down to the three kits in their arms.

His and Andie's children...

The two adults watched as their newborns shifted about in their sleep until they had snuggled close to each other, tiny squeaks erupted from the three kits as they clung to each other for warmth. These three young squirrel kittens seemed to be beaming with potential, despite how small and fragile they seemed right now.

Someday they would become something special for this park and they needed names to help them fulfil those roles and, during her pregnancy, the two had discussed names for boys and girls and they both couldn't agree on many of them even though they did make a potential list.

Andie spoke up suddenly.

"I think we should name the one that looks like you something like Surl..."

"I think "Surly Jr" would have been better, but okay."

Andie then looked at the middle kit, the male that resembled herself, and looked to Surly for any name ideas. He racked his brains for a good name for his middle son and then spoke up when a good idea struck him like a bolt of lightning.

"Hmm...how about Andrew for the middle one?"

Andie nodded happily, accepting her second son's name.

The focus was shifted to the smallest kit, the girl.

Both Surly and Andie noticed how their daughter's fur was orange like a blazing fire but the purple stripe on her tail and the tips of her tiny paws was a deep violet colouration, a unique fur colour indeed. The kit's teeny pink nose twitched softly as she took in soft breaths.

She needed a special name but what...?

Andie looked down at her daughter and noticed how lively she seemed and her green eyes lit up like little lights in pitch black darkness, she grinned a huge grin when an idea of what to name the girl dawned on her. The little girl kitten had been on the move ever since she'd been born a few minutes ago and she appeared quite strong in spite of her diminutive size compared to her brothers.

Confident in her choice of name, the red squirrel turned to face her mate once again.

"What about Ember?"

Surly looked straight into Andie's eyes, perplexed.

Why of all names would Andie name their daughter "Ember"? Certainly, her fur and her temperament (what little she was showing right now) seemed fiery but it was certainly an odd name of choice. He glanced at his wife with his eyes agleam with confusion.

"Not that I hate it or anything, but why Ember?"

Andie shrugged.

"It just seemed to fit."

Surly smiled, his gaze lovingly turned down at the squeaking kits that bundled up in both his and Andie's arms and he felt his heart swell to the size of a large acorn. He had supposed that it was a good choice of name; so there were Surl, Andrew and Ember —their names fit rather well, actually, like gloves on someone's hand.

The male adult prune-furred squirrel leaned forwards and planted a light kiss upon Andie's forehead and spoke to her in a soft tone of voice.

"You did awesome, my dear..."

His ear twitched when he suddenly heard someone come in and both Andie and himself turned their heads to face the entrance to their hollow and found Buddy peeking in with a look of anxious excitement written on his face. The purple squirrel smirked when his eyes landed upon the rat and he gestured for the rat to come in.

Buddy seemed quite cautious at first but when he realised it was safe he came in while seeming to lug in one of the nut bags from earlier.

"Ah! Great timing, Buddy. Wanna meet our kits?"

Buddy didn't even need to be told twice since he hastened to stand next to the two squirrels and leaned forwards to gaze upon the three mewling squirrel kittens. A huge smile graced his muzzle and his tears swelled up with large tears of joy while he clasped his paws together. He seemed to be close to shedding even more tears then Surly was close to weeping himself a mere few minutes ago.

"I guess we need to celebrate, do you have the nuts?"

Buddy answered by reaching into the bag and producing a large acorn from within.

Surly gave the rat a thumbs up, "Great job!"

Andie giggled as she was given a nut and she proceeded to nibble softly upon it. She felt super lucky to have Surly and Buddy and she couldn't have been happier then she was right now, with her mate and her kits and Buddy with everybody waiting outside to meet the new members of the park community. She took the three squirrel cubs into one arm and hugged them close and tight.

"Here's to our family..."

* * *

 **A/N: Here's the end of this one-shot, it takes place after the second movie, which I really enjoyed.**

 **I hope you guys liked this as much as I liked writing it and I added as much fluff as possible.**

 **Please review and fave.**

 **-Chloemcg**


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